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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27013132">Your Violet Disposition</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/slytherinski/pseuds/slytherinski'>slytherinski</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Contingencies [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Avengers Family, Domestic Avengers, Domestic Fluff, Epilogue Fic, Family Dinners, Family Feels, Fluff, Loki Redemption (Marvel), M/M, Parent Tony Stark, Summer, Tony Stark Has A Heart</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 02:13:57</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,389</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27013132</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/slytherinski/pseuds/slytherinski</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Summer suits Loki, as much as he'd disagree with Tony on that matter.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Loki/Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Contingencies [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1971022</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>126</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Your Violet Disposition</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This fic takes place two years after my fic, Contingency Plan. It was originally meant to be an epilogue on that fic, but I liked leaving the ending as is.</p><p>(You should probs read Contingency Plan first but I can't tell you what to do. Go crazy and read this standalone if ya want)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Tony’s penchant for Summer is something he expected to fade as he grew older, much like the other formative loves of his youth. Surely as the grey hairs and the tired bones came on, he’d find the heat he once loved stifling and inconvenient.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But here he lies, supine on a reclining deck chair with a Tana French paperback open and face down on his bare chest. The cicadas’ thrum is especially loud this evening, the hordes of them thriving amidst the haze of retreating Augustan heat. It’s the only thing keeping him from dozing off completely, the second being the pinging alert of Friday from his glasses.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“The Sous Vide steak is ready, Boss.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks, Fri,” Tony sits up, stretching his arms over his head. The half-finished mystery novel falls into his lap, and he doggy ears the page in secret, knowing Loki will give him a real reaming (and not the fun kind) if he sees it. He tucks it between the cushions for later retrieval, dragging himself back into the house.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He removes the steaks from the Sous Vide cooker, piling them onto two large plates so he can finish them off on the grill outside, searing both sides to perfection. The last of the necessary food prep helps shake off the warm lethargy of another day of retirement well-spent, but he still needs a little additional assistance before the rest of the company turns up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gathers two beach towels over his arm and makes his way down towards the lake’s edge, stepping around yard games and toys strewn across the grass. The dock creaks beneath each step, and only one of two figures are visible as he reaches the end of it. “You two waterbugs going to stay out there all day, or are you going to come help me set the table?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Morgan spins around to face him where she’s treading water, mock terror contorting her face as she reaches out with dripping arms. “Dad! Don’t come any closer! The Lake Kraken will get you!” she shrieks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh yeah?” He crouches down at the edge of the dock, peering down into the water. “I don’t see anything.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Once you do, it’ll be too late!” she bellows dramatically, thrashing in the water. On cue, spectral, illusionary tentacles rise up from the greenish water in a loose circle around her, Tony barely avoiding the spray of water as she’s suddenly dragged under.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, no, not my daughter, please, anything but my daughter!” Tony shouts towards the sky, shaking a fist. “Why not take me instead?!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A white hand flashes out from the water and grasps him by the ankle, easily toppling him forward with a graceless splash. Lake water shoots up Tony’s nostrils in that brief moment where he didn’t close his airways quite quick enough, and the grip around his leg is as gone as suddenly as it had appeared.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He breaches the surface easily, wiping water from his face and immediately glaring at the pair of giggling co-conspirators who have reemerged beside him. He aims a splash at Loki specifically, the other man accepting it without issue. “Asshole,” he huffs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You asked for it,” Loki replies with mirth. He dips back under the water again to swim past, his pale skin practically glowing beneath the water in an abstract blur as his unbraided hair flows freely behind him in inky black tendrils.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Swear jar,” Morgan annexes before following suit, plunging beneath the surface once more.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It would be wholly impossible to stay angry at either of them for more than a millisecond, especially when Loki hoiss himself back onto the dock with ease, offering a hand to pull Morgan up beside him only to immediately twirl her around and toss her back into the water. Summer suits him, as much as he would disagree with Tony on that matter. Maybe he’s just biased to seeing Loki dripping wet and in those clingy black swim shorts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony paddles himself back to shore while the two of them play King of the Dock for a few more minutes, a game that Loki has yet to lose to the eight year-old despite her best attempts. Tony peels off his now soaked Hawaiian-print, ringing it out as he waits for them at the end of the dock. Loki has picked up the towels Tony had brought out for them, dropping one unceremoniously on top of Morgan before snapping his fingers to magic himself dry.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, wanna gave me the same treatment, Insta-Dry?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Loki just smirks at him and tosses the towel over his head in the same manner he had his daughter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Asshole,” Tony sighs again, quietly enough to not get policed by Little Miss Swear Jar as she runs past them towards the house.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Loki chuckles warmly and helps rearrange the towel, sliding a hand over his waist to press a brief kiss to the corner of Tony’s mouth. “Apologies, Love. I abide to the Lake Kraken’s bidding.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mmhm,” Tony hums, wrapping the towel tighter around himself as they trudge up the slope towards the cabin. “Well how about you abide to </span>
  <em>
    <span>my</span>
  </em>
  <span> bidding and fetch the extra chairs from under the deck while I go change?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Loki does just that, bowing deeply to him before they go their separate ways, Tony hastily drying himself off and changing into a pair of fresh chinos and a loose, worn-in flannel before their guests arrive. He can hear music coming from Morgan’s room down the hall, his daughter’s slightly off-key lilt accompanying the melody.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Morgan, please take Butterfingers up to your room so people aren’t stepping on him all night!” Loki calls up the stairs just as Tony descends them. He rounds the corner into the kitchen to see Loki holding the bowls of salad up in the air as he attempts to navigate his way through the kitchen while the little robot whirrs around at his feet. He’s already conjured himself a new outfit and pulled the top half of his hair into a loose bun on the back of his head, the rest cascading in gentle waves over his shoulders. Tony would drag him up to the bedroom were it any other night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Morgan comes tromping down the stairs a few minutes later, freshly showered and sporting her new, loosely Asgardian-style dress she has yet to have the opportunity to show off. “Loki, can you do my hair before Val shows up?” She asks, kneeling down to scoop Butterfingers under an arm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, of course. Help your father with the silverware once you’ve put him away, will you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Family Dinner Night has only grown over the past two years, so much so that even the spacious dining room can no longer hold all their guests and they’ve spilled out onto the patio. A long dining table to rival that of the Last Supper has become a permanent fixture on the back porch, and even then Tony can’t quite figure out how they all manage to squeeze in around it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The usual guests turn up right around seven with various entrees in hand. Natasha, Steve, Rhodey, and Bruce all carpool together, with Hope, Scott, and Scott’s teenage daughter close behind. As soon as Loki is finished with her intricate plaits, Morgan is flying out the front door and latching onto Cassie who she’s been </span>
  <em>
    <span>obsessed </span>
  </em>
  <span>with ever since they took her on as a regular babysitter. Peter arrives next with his girlfriend MJ, an apology from May that she couldn’t make it upstate tonight in the form of a homemade apple pie to add to the dessert pile.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The receptions and reunions had along the wrap-around porch are momentarily drowned out by the sound of a guttural engine, the intense growl decrescendoing into a purr as it slows its approach.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you were worried she wouldn’t use it,” Loki teases from behind Tony, encircling him in his arms for a moment and placing a kiss to the shell of his ear before he slips past to greet Wanda out front.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The birthday gift had been Loki’s idea, but Tony couldn’t just let him buy some fancy sports bike and not add his own </span>
  <em>
    <span>modifications </span>
  </em>
  <span>to it. He made it usable both for recreation and actual field work, enhancing the skeleton of the motorcycle to be able to withstand the power of her psionic blasts so she can propel while mounting it and still make a safe landing. It’s just a bonus that the sleek, matte black body of the bike looks badass as hell when the wheels are alight with her glowing red energy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The last of the arrivals are even less subtle than that, wind suddenly rustling the trees and agitating the water down by the lake, (Tony has made sure all the lawn furniture is properly weighed down after learning the hard way the first time) as a familiar spaceship descends from the sky. Tony lets Morgan and Peter speed past to greet the Outer Space/New Asgard crew, Tony never knowing exactly who’s able to make it because apparently it’s a shared alien trait to </span>
  <em>
    <span>suck </span>
  </em>
  <span>at RSVPing or answering a text every now and again. At least they finally learned to carpool— spaceshippool?— after Tony was sick of making headlines for the four different spacecrafts parked above his house.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boarding ramp lowers, and Thor is the first one out, immediately scooping Morgan into his arms and spinning her around, tossing her up into the air much to her delight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uncle Thor!” She squeals in elation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“My favorite little niece!” he replies, eliciting more giggles with another toss or two before setting her down. “And you’re wearing your new dress! You look just like a real princess.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She does a little twirl and curtsey for him, smiling over his shoulder as Valkyrie steps out after him. “Val!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Beastslayer,” Valkyrie greets with a smirk, petting the top of her head as she hugs her around the waist. “You keeping Loki in line for me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Somebody</span>
  </em>
  <span> around here’s gotta do it,” Morgan snickers conspiratorially, casting a side-eye towards her father.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Pretending I can’t hear you!” Tony calls out from the deck, descending the steps to greet everyone. Morgan’s ever-shortening attention span immediately shifts to their guest who looks most like a Build-a-Bear, glomming onto Rocket and immediately scratching him in that spot between the ears that he pretends to hate, despite the happy movement of his bushy tail sweeping back and forth behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Rocket, how many times do I have to tell you no blasters at Family Dinner night?” He calls after them as they rush past, already seeing the not-a-Raccoon pulling something from a holster on his hip. “Morgan, don’t touch anything he gives you, I’m serious!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kids, huh?” Carol winks as she passes, an arm already slung around Peter who hasn’t stopped firing off questions he’s been saving up to ask her about all her space adventures she’s had since her last visit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony endures a bone-crushing hug and wind-knocking pat on the back from Thor and Val respectively, turning to see the last, and least boisterous arrival. His smile widens.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kalda smiles right back at him, cheeks dimpling as she rushes forward and envelops him in a tight hug. “Tony,” she greets softly in his ear.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, kiddo, long time no see,” he jokes, having just seen her earlier this month. He holds her at arm’s length, tugging at the ends of her hair that now stop right above her shoulders. “New ‘do?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She self-consciously tucks her dark hair behind an ear. “Needed change.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well it looks good,” he reaches up to ruffle the shortened locks. “Loki is out front if you wanna go say hi.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kalda nods, chancing a nervous glance towards the animated groups all congregated on the porch, slipping past like a whisper to seek out her oldest ally. Tony briefly wonders how she survived a trip with the likes of Thor, Carol, Rocket, and Val all yelling and taking jabs at each other the entire way.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It takes another half-hour to rangle the nearly twenty people to get seated around the table that’s overflowing with potluck dishes. The ever-adventurous kids in attendance immediately go for the non-Earth foods provided by the likes of their Asgardian and alien adjacent friends. (Honestly, Loki can continue to talk up bilgesnipe all he wants, feral space moose is </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>Tony’s thing.) </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Loki practically seizes him by the collar and forces him to take his seat at the head of the table when he’s still circling, making sure everyone has food and drink (and also confiscating Rocket’s weapons he’s trying to hide under his chair.) His favorites are already piled on his plate and waiting for him, Loki flashing him a quick wink before he leans away to help Morgan cut her steak.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, Tony, how was the trip to New Asgard?” Steve asks from his other side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, it was great,” Tony sighs, already thinking back to their month-long Summer trip he had been so unwilling to bring to an end. “I mean, once you get used to the fish smell and the cold— But, hey, the latter doesn’t bother you too much, huh?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Steve rolls his eyes at the slight barb. “Nat, Buck, and I were talking about making it up there at some point but haven’t had the chance yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, Shuri mentioned how busy the saving the world gig has been lately,” Tony remarks with a wry smile. While the presence of the Wakandans is missed tonight, he knows it’s not always easy for them to make it out to their neck of the woods. Besides, he talks to Shuri at least once a week to shoot ideas back and forth and hear all about what Earth’s brightest genius is up to these days. “Y’know, Loki is actually heading back soon to work out some new political relations with Val, he could probably be a great tour guide, right, Honey?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Loki’s eyes are deceptively warm as they wrinkle around the edges, his smile helping hide how little he’s actually amused by Tony’s suggestion. “Yes, of course,” he purrs, subtly kicking Tony’s shin under the table. “I would love </span>
  <em>
    <span>nothing </span>
  </em>
  <span>more.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The polite smile on Steve’s face is even less convincing. “Er, yeah. Sounds fun.” The two of them have only gotten </span>
  <em>
    <span>slightly </span>
  </em>
  <span>less icy towards each other over the last couple of years, but even being able to sit across from each other at Family Dinner Night is progress.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wanna go too!” Morgan chirps, unknowingly slicing through the tension. “It was the most fun ever, Uncle Cap! I got a buncha new dresses, and the houses look like they’re out of a storybook, and we saw the Northern Lights, and we went on a boat ride past all these waterfalls, and Daddy fell off the boat when—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Food’s getting cold, Mo,” Tony interrupts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, no, let her keep going,” Natasha grins, leaning forward in her chair. “I wanna hear all about Daddy falling off the boat.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony finishes his meal and allows the Asgardians (and Morgan, who Val named an honorary Asgardian during their visit) to regale all the adventures and mishaps they had during their vacation, giving Loki a parting kiss on the cheek while he argues semantics with his brother over who actually drank the most mead in one sitting, pulling his chair further down the table so he can join in on Bruce and Hope’s conversation on the latest Quantum tech.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The back door slides open to admit Pepper, blazer thrown over an arm and hair recently let down from it’s tight bun. “Mommy!” Morgan immediately squeals, practically knocking her chair over in her rush to get over to her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Monkey,” she smiles, crouching down to kiss both her daughter’s cheeks and the top of her head. She smiles at Tony as he walks around the table, pulling a wine bottle from her bag with a bright red bow on it. “For your boyfriend. The newest </span>
  <a href="https://go.redirectingat.com/?id=74968X1525087&amp;xs=1&amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sothebys.com%2Fen%2Fauctions%2Fecatalogue%2F2018%2Frare-drc-wines-from-the-cellar-of-robert-drouhin-n09921%2Flot.84.html&amp;sref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.townandcountrymag.com%2Fleisure%2Fdrinks%2Fg25839214%2Fmost-expensive-wine%2F%3Fpre%3Dleisure%252Fdrinks%252F%26prefix%3Dg%26id%3D25839214%26del%3D%26variantId%3D%26post%3D%252Fmost-expensive-wine">
    <span>Domaine de la Romanée-Conti Romanee-Conti</span>
  </a>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ah, I knew you two would eventually bond over spending all my money on overpriced wine,” Tony smiles, knowing Loki’s perceptive eyes are probably already locked on the label from twenty feet away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was your PA and then CFO for years, Tony, don’t think I don’t know all the ways you like to drain your account,” Pepper scoffs. “Save any food for us late-comers?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If Thor and Val haven’t already eaten everything,” Tony smiles, pausing for a beat. “Did you say late-comer</span>
  <em>
    <span>s</span>
  </em>
  <span>, plural?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A coy smile spreads on her face. “I brought another guest with me from the office, think we can make room?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What are you up t—” Tony glances past her to the figure stepping out onto the back deck after her, gangly as ever with his unruly mop of blonde hair and sheepish smile. “Well if it isn’t everyone’s favorite intern,” Tony grins at Harley. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Tony,” Harley modestly replies, hands in his pockets.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He reaches out, grasping him by the shoulder. “We’re gonna have to add a kids’ table to these things.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I call dibs on a seat over there! These guys are way cooler than the rest of you old fogeys,” Carol says, waving her second beer at them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, save me a seat!” Scott adds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll sit at the adult’s table, then,” Cassie immediately mumbles into her Coke, earning a laugh from Hope beside her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m sitting wherever Cassie sits!” Morgan declares.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well I’m sitting wherever Morgan is,” Peter chimes in, reaching across the table to accept a high five.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There isn’t even an official </span>
  <em>
    <span>Kid’s table</span>
  </em>
  <span> yet and you lot are already starting a mutiny,” Loki observes with an amused smirk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony rolls his eyes as the derailing antics continue on, patting Harley on the back. “Let’s pull you up another chair, huh? You gotta tell me all about how the internship is going…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And so the night continues, raucous laughter and story-telling and arguments had over dessert, Tony over-stuffing himself with both a piece of May’s famous pie and two of Kalda’s fruit tarts. There’s plenty of drink flowing for those who partake, and Tony even winks and turns a blind eye when he catches MJ sneaking a couple of Shandies out of the cooler. (Peter, just shy of twenty-one himself, vehemently denies the proffered drink anyway, cheeks flushed.)</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The party naturally breaks off into groups, some having less hectic, catch-up time inside while others strike up drinking contests on the porch, play yard games, or find quiet conversation while walking along the lakeshore. Tony leans against the railing on the back deck, finding himself in a rare moment of solitude as his eyes pan across the lawn. He spots Loki sprawled in one of the hammocks, one long leg hanging over the edge to occasionally push himself, swinging ever so slightly as he watches the under-twenties teach Kalda how to play Cornhole, glass of lemonade in hand. Morgan eventually joins him, skipping over and clambering into the hammock, the god easily accommodating as he loops both arms around her small frame.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Does it still surprise you to see him like this?” Thor suddenly asks from beside him. Tony would’ve jumped were he not used to Loki’s penchant for silent appearances at his side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He thinks for a moment before answering. “Sometimes… But at other times it just seems like the most natural thing in the world. Like there was no other way he could’ve ended up but here with me... With us.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thor’s silence worries him for a moment, left wondering if he’s said too much. What would a mortal like Tony know of fate and destiny when it came to the lives of gods? He glances sideways at the other man, finding a subtle, peaceful smile hiding beneath his beard, newly braided by Morgan, most likely. “Good. I can’t say it doesn’t surprise me sometimes. Although, I think that comes from just how long it was that it felt like he had pulled away into darkness. In reality, that time was so short in comparison to the millenia we’ve spent with each other. He never even seemed to like children when he, himself, was a child. But now… Well,” Thor just gestures out onto the lawn to where Loki sits in the hammock, a content smile in place of the usual downturned draw of his lips as he allows Morgan to place picked flowers and dandelions from the yard into his hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite the seemingly gradual acceptance everyone has shown towards Loki over the past two years, there have been days where Tony has faced his own disquiet, left wondering if his closest friends are still holding secret interventions on his behalf. If he were to go poking around in the newly rebirthed SHIELD, would he find hidden files depicting protocols to take Loki down if he made himself out to be a threat to Earth again? More importantly, would Loki ever become that threat again once he grew tired of the domestic, upstate life with the two of them?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I never have thanked you, my friend,” Thor continues, unbothered by Tony’s quiet contemplation. “You didn’t just bring my brother back from the dead; You brought him back to the man I knew him to be, one capable of love, and no longer focused on vengeance. I truly don’t know if Loki would’ve been able to become the man he is now without you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony feels his throat tighten, lifting his gaze to keep the tears gathering in the edges of his eyes at bay. “I think you’re giving me more credit than I deserve, Big Guy,” he chuckles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe so,” Thor concedes, crossing his arms over the railing. “But I don’t think I need to explain to you that a single man can play a larger part in the universe than he thinks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The fingers on Tony’s right hand twitch, his thumb and third finger aching in a fleeting, psychosomatic spasm at the small reminder of a toll he had been so willing to pay on his own. “I, uh, I still have nightmares sometimes,” he confesses, lowering his voice. “Pretty bad ones. About the wormhole, Thanos, hell, even Siberia… But sometimes I have them about… about him. The </span>
  <em>
    <span>old </span>
  </em>
  <span>him, that is.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A large, comforting hand settles onto the middle of his back. “Don’t feel guilt over this, Tony. Loki desires to be feared almost as much as he desires to be loved; He just happens to be more outward with the former.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But I don’t want to </span>
  <em>
    <span>fear </span>
  </em>
  <span>him,” Tony says quietly, finally glancing back down only to find Loki staring right back at him. His heart stills for a moment, even though logically he knows there’s no way Loki could hear their conversation from so far away. In an instant, he sees that private smile spread, and Loki simply quirks an eyebrow at the two of them before looking away to continue his conversation with Morgan. “Even if it is just subconscious.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can’t help the fact that you’ve seen him at some of his worst moments,” Thor reasons. “Just continue to afford him the same patience and care you have been since the moment you two came together. That feeling will go away in time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Time</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Another ostensible hurdle that stands on the path of their relationship. Tony does his best to ignore it altogether, unwilling to face the fact that he only has so many years left on this Earth, while Loki has eons. He’s always thought of what kind of state his world would be left in, even long after he’s gone. That view was reshaped after Morgan was born, and has been changed again with an unyielding mischief God joining the picture.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Has Loki ever…” Tony bites down on his cheek, hesitating to breach this specific topic. It’s likely he’ll </span>
  <em>
    <span>never </span>
  </em>
  <span>bring it up to Loki, so maybe he can get away with prodding Thor’s mind about it. “Has he ever</span>
  <em>
    <span> been with</span>
  </em>
  <span> a mortal before? Even for a short amount of time?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thor looks amused by the question, casting a sideways look at him. “While I don’t know my brother’s entire romantic or sexual history— And never </span>
  <em>
    <span>want </span>
  </em>
  <span>to know, frankly,” He shudders. “He’s never been fond of mortals, even for something as frivolous as a one-time fling. Monogamy has never been his style as far as I’m aware but… well, I wouldn’t be the one he would tell if it were. You may be better off asking Kalda such things.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“From the random little tidbits he’s dropped over the past few years, I think I’d rather not know specifics,” Tony winces. He’s still unsure about when Loki is joking and when he’s being serious when the topic of ex-lovers comes up, but he supposes he can’t hold the perversions of a gender-fluid, immortal alien against him. “I’m more just curious about whether or not Loki’s considered our, erm, </span>
  <em>
    <span>expiration date</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Thor keeps him from spinning too far down that particular rabbit hole, giving his shoulder a familial shake. “Don’t dwell on such dismal thoughts, Tony. Not tonight,” he smiles and gestures to all their loved ones around them. “I’m sure even if you haven’t breached the topic with Loki, he has already put much thought into that particular aspect of your relationship. Don’t underestimate the lengths my brother will go to so he can keep his current condition exactly as he likes it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Trust me, I don’t,” Tony chuckles, rubbing his forearm in remembrance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Come, now, let’s go see about joining the young ones on these Midgardian games,” Thor grins, throwing a heavy arm around his shoulders. “You can show me the best strategies for this </span>
  <em>
    <span>‘hole of corn’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>game I keep hearing about...”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony and Kalda cinch 2nd Place in the Cornhole tournament, losing only to the powerhouse duo of Peter and Harley who are a force to be reckoned with both in and out of the lab. The party starts to wind down after that, the guests who are sober or have a designated driver heading home, while those too inebriated find a place to crash, whether it be a guest room or a couch. They’ll worry about cleaning in the morning, Tony making his first priority to have a glass of water and an Advil waiting beside all of their passed out friends.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Loki is absent from the goodbyes, as is usual for him on chaotic nights like these that test his threshold for sociability. Tony stands at the edge of the dock, holding Morgan up high so she can wave at the spaceship until it winks out of view amongst the stars. He hands the bedtime ritual reins to Pepper for the night, wandering across the lawn until he finds Loki in the spot he’s been in for most of the evening, tucked away in the woven hammock.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Everyone taken care oft?” Loki asks as Tony approaches, eyes remaining peacefully closed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Rhodey might throw up from trying to outdrink Nat </span>
  <em>
    <span>again</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but other than that, I think everyone will wake up in one piece tomorrow,” Tony eases himself into the hammock, laying opposite Loki.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Loki pulls Tony’s feet against his chest, his thumb rubbing errant circles around the protrusion of his ankle bone. “Care to share what you and my brother were gossiping about earlier?” he drawls, eyes fluttering open to half-mast.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Right to the point, as usual</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “Hm, nothing in particular…” Tony matches his gaze, watching one, thin brow arch higher at his nonchalance. “Just how it’s so hard to get everyone together... There’s a Midgardian saying about how it’s a shame most families and friends can only get together like this at weddings and funerals.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hm,” Loki ponders, turning his eyes skyward. “We could always have one.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What, a funeral?” Tony scoffs. “Morgan can only go through so many gerbils before she finally decides on a sturdier pet...”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I meant a </span>
  <em>
    <span>wedding</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Stark,” Loki sighs, pressing a hand to the bridge of his nose. “For a genius you sure can be dense, you know.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Tony sits up straight in the hammock, eyes quickly shifting from wide to narrow. “Are you kidding?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What, don’t want to marry me?” Loki asks, a smile playing on his lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I… no— I mean— I didn’t think that’s what you wanted— </span>
  <em>
    <span>Marriage</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Loki follows suit, sitting up with a sigh as he knocks their knees together. “It isn’t necessarily something I </span>
  <em>
    <span>want… </span>
  </em>
  <span>I mean, for my old life, marriage was only something that I would’ve gone through for political reasons, and even then, who would want to be married to the rightful Prince of a desolate planet of misery and nothingness?” He smiles wanly for a moment before cocking his head to the side. “I’m more curious if it’s something </span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>desire.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I… honestly haven’t even thought about that,” Tony murmurs. His gaze shifts beyond Loki, up towards the house where he can see Morgan’s bedroom light on, an orange square glowing in the darkness with vague shapes moving beyond the shade. “I mean, I’ve been married once already— twice if you count a mishap in Vegas I had to get annulled when I was twenty— I didn’t really think...”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He trails off as his eyes drift back to Loki, finding an alarmingly intense stare fixed on him. The coy, teasing smile has faded. The easy curve to his lips has been replaced by the squared edge of his clenched jaw, eyes faded to a pale silver in the low lamplight. A vignetted mood has suddenly shifted, Loki allowing himself to be highlighted in a rare instance of insecurity. Loki, so used to being ten steps ahead in a conversation is now caught on his own bated breath, wholly uncertain of what lies ahead. In that moment, Tony sees him so clearly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I can’t offer you normalcy, Anthony,” Loki avows when he remains silent, that near colorless gaze unwavering. “I can only give you nearly everything </span>
  <em>
    <span>but</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” Tony reaches for Loki’s hand, the other man’s fingers parting in an easy, fluid motion to accept him. “Don’t start acting like I don’t know what I signed up for. I may not be an immortal sorcerer from another realm, but my life’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>never </span>
  </em>
  <span>been normal. I mean, I spent the better part of my mid-life crisis flying around in a glorified tin man suit trying to save the world with a bunch of other super-freaks. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Normalcy</span>
  </em>
  <span>? A wedding to some boring old human I’m just going to grow old with?” He presses teasingly, trying to coax a smile out of the other man. “I don’t need any of that. I have </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I have </span>
  <em>
    <span>Morgan</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I have our friends… We have </span>
  <em>
    <span>these</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” He extends his arm, laying it alongside Loki’s. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Identical tattoos circle their forearms; A once temporary branding of their bond made permanent earlier that year. It had been Tony’s idea, and despite Loki’s teasing that he’s too old to be getting a tattoo, the god had agreed. Brokkr was the one to do it for them, using an ancient Vanir technique for the tattooing itself, the subtle line of ink shifting and changing in the light, darkening when they’re apart. Tony finds comfort in it, seeing the band stand out more and more against his flesh during times when both of their obligations drag them from one another.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And that’s enough for me,” Tony continues gently, reaching up to cup Loki’s face. “Is it enough for you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Loki stares down at their arms, a line of bold contrast in the space between them. He leans forward to draw Tony into a kiss, as unhurried as it is ardent. After some time, when they’ve both found the comfort they sought after, Loki draws away, a quiet whisper falling from scarcely moving lips. “Would you change anything if you could?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The question is so soft, nearly drowned out by the drone of crickets carried by the ambling, Summer breeze. Tony smiles and locks their pinky fingers together, brings their hands to his lips, and presses a kiss to each of Loki’s knuckles.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Not a single thing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The hammock’s sway lessons as time draws on, eventually coming to a stop. And, just as gradually, so, too, do the nightmares.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Kudos and comments appreciated &lt;3 Not sure if I'll write more in this verse, but if there's enough interest and I have some good ideas, I just might!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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